No loss for feminism

In the next few days, the historical narrative about the presidential primary race between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton will become set in stone. The contest between a powerful and talented black man and a powerful and talented white woman has already become, in the minds of many, a story about the continuing power of sexism over racism as a barrier to equality.

But very little about the candidacy of Hillary Clinton reflected feminism.

First of all, to be a modern feminist necessarily means to reject racism. No 21st-century feminist could fail to understand the complicated but very real connection between patriarchy and white supremacy. Thus, it is impossible to run a campaign as a feminist while making racist appeals to white, male voters. But Mrs. Clinton did just this. In advance of the Pennsylvania and Indiana primaries, both explicitly and in not-so-subtle racial terms, she spoke to white, working-class, male voters - purporting to understand them in ways that Mr. Obama could not, and giving permission for these voters to regard race as a legitimate reason to support her. Her unabashed embrace of what she described as the "hard-working, white American" vote was stunning in its insensitivity.

Clinton supporter Geraldine A. Ferraro's comment that Mr. Obama had achieved his success in the campaign only because he's black (a comment Ms. Ferraro made about the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson's candidacy in the 1980s, and one she has repeated several times since April) was rejected by Mrs. Clinton only tepidly and belatedly.

Moreover, Mr. Obama's gift of oratory - long the strong suit of black political, social and religious leaders - was dubbed inconsequential by Mrs. Clinton, almost as though being black and charismatic is cheating. Thus, one of the most powerful gifts in any politician's arsenal, the ability to inspire and uplift through oratory, was deemed by the Clinton campaign as proof that Mr. Obama was unqualified for office. And like an employer testifying in an employment discrimination lawsuit, Mrs. Clinton ignored the rest of Mr. Obama's r?sum? as a community organizer and state legislator, and said on morning news programs that his entire career was based "on a speech he made in 2004."